Basket-handle.



PATENTED PEB. l1, 1908.

blo-879,103.

' J HIGMAN BASKET HANDLE. APPLICATION FILED APB. 29 1907 JOHN HIGMAN, OF ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN.

BASKET-HANDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1908.

Applioation filed April 29. 1907. Serial No. 370.787.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JonN HIGMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of St. Joseph, Berrien county, Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Basket-Handles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention contemplates a novel and improved form of handle' for baskets.

It relates more particularly to baskets provided with two handles, one at each side, such as an ordinary bushel basket. Prior to my invention, these handles have been made of wood, and possibly of wire, b'ut without obtaining the best results. I now propose to make these handles of strap metal, and to apply the same in a novel and improved manner. They may be made of strip steel bent to engage the hoops of the, basket. Each handle has a pair of shoulders setting down on the rim of the basket, and a pair of lower end portions which hook onto one of the hoops. In this way, the said improved steel or strap iron handles cannot pull out, and are so applied that the baskets nest well together for shipping purposes. The old handles were liable to interfere more or less with the proper nesting of the baskets, and were unsatisfactory in other ways. My improved metal handles overcome these obj ections, and are cheap to manufacture.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, my

invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,-li`igure 1 is a perspective of a portion of a basket having a handle embodying the principles of my invention. Eig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 in Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 show another way of applying the handle.

As thus illustrated, the basket A can be of any suitable construction. As shown, it has an inner hoop a and an outer hoop a1, with the staves a2 secured between said hoops.

The handle B has an upper portion t which isY preferably slightly concave on top and conveX on the bottom, to make it more suitable for grasping. Said handle also has twisted portions 61h61 which connect with the shoulder portions 62-62, which latter rest upon the rim of the basket.

The end pory tions ?)3193 are inserted downwardly between the hoop a and the staves a2, and the ends t4b4 are then bent u wardly inside of the basket. In Figs. 4 ang 5, the handle C has the upper portion c and the twisted portions c1-c1, as well as the shoulders cl2-c2, as illustrated. The end portions (s3-c3 are, however, inserted downwardly between the outer hoop al and the staves a2, and the ends 04h04 are bent upwardly outside of the basket. These handles can be made of strip steel, or of strap iron, bent into the shape shown and described. Handles of this kind cannot pull out, are cheap to manufacture, permit the baskets to nest well together for shipping purposes, and do not break.

It will be seen that the shoulder portions b2-l 2 provide an offset upon which the cover of the basket can rest. It will be understood that the cover for a basket of this kind ordinarily consists of a hoop or rirnprovided with cross slats, the said hoop or rim ada ted to rest upon the upper edge of the rim o the basket. It will be seen, therefore, that these shoulders of the handles not only limit the insertion of the handles between the hoops, but are also adapted to permit the basket cover to be adjusted in place in the ordinary manner. When this is done, the rim of the cover will come just inside of the twisted portions of the handles, and will be supported u on the shoulders of the said handles.

WhatI claim as my invention is:

In combination with a basket, a handle attached to the rim thereof and consisting of a strap of sheetmetal bent into 'substantially U-shape to provide a grasping portion and depending portions, these depending portions being twisted so as to face toward the basket and -to be passed down between the rim hoops, the lower extremity of each of these portions being bent upwardly to engage the lower edge of one 'of the hoops, and the upper portion thereof being bent outwardly to engage upon the upper edge of the basket, for the'purposes set forth.

Signed by me at St. Joseph Berrien county Michigan this 25th day of April 1907.

JOHN HIGMAN.

Witnesses:

LAWRENCE C. FYFE, H. C. HIGMAN. 

